Post subject: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for you?

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 3:15 pm

Tofu Pup

Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 1:37 pmPosts: 6

I am contemplating a complete dietary over haul. I cook vegetarian meals often and have stuck to a low carb/low wheat diet for several months now. Recently I have had some stress and back slid to junk food. Friday's lunch was the breaking point for me it was really icky (super market Chinese take out), they got my order wrong, it was disgusting and I felt sick afterward. I am giving myself the next two months to transition to vegan eating and to attempt to limit my gluten intake (at least to start). I have the Eat to Live diet book, VB6 by Mark Bittman and a pleathora of vegan and raw cookbooks, plus I just uploaded a quinoa cookbook to my Nook. So back to my question: For those of you who are vegan and gluten free which came first for you? What kind of pointers do you have?

Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 6:44 pm

Fair trade, organic mistletoe

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:52 amPosts: 3518Location: Toronto

Vegan first, for ethical reasons. Gluten free in the last month or so because it's a huge IBS trigger. Honestly, if you don't NEED to restrict gluten, don't! It limits so much of what/where I can eat and is a total pain in the asparagus.

_________________"I'd rather have dried catshit! I'd rather have astroturf! I'd rather have an igloo!"~Isa

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Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 4:57 pm

Huffs Nooch

Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:05 pmPosts: 128

Yeah, pretty much what j-dub said, except 6 years gf. It's no picnic. As for pointers, if you're doing a diet overhaul anyway, you might as well do them both at the same time. Learning to cook vegan meant learning how to cook all over again. and then 5 years later it was the same thing going gf, just becuase your staple foods and go-to recipes change substantially. and there's a learning curve for both, but more so for gf because wheat is in (damn near) EVERYTHING!

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Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 5:18 pm

Can't Dance, Isn't Part of Revolution

Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:42 pmPosts: 164

I'm backwards. I have been off and on vegan for decades, but never able to stay that way because I would develop failure to thrive after three, 3 1/2 years and have to go back to omni. Then I got a double diagnosis (that saved my life). I was told that I had celiac disease, and a heretofore undiagnosed MTHFR genetic defect. Once stabilized on methylfolate, and after a year of being gluten-free, I went back to being vegan and have been vegan ever since - HEALTHFULLY! Not one bit of trouble. Every day just keeps getting better than the last.

Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 11:44 am

Invented Vegan Meringue

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:14 pmPosts: 3942Location: Portland, OR

j-dub wrote:

Vegan first, for ethical reasons. Gluten free in the last month or so because it's a huge IBS trigger. Honestly, if you don't NEED to restrict gluten, don't! It limits so much of what/where I can eat and is a total pain in the asparagus.

This! I know there is a lot of hub bub about gluten being bad for you. But if I wasn't forced to be gluten free then I would not chose to be.

I'm glad there is rice pasta and GF products available on the market, but they are really pricey and if I splurge on vegan items and GF items I'm spending upwards to 300 dollars a week in the grocery store for two people. And that is insane! So if you can't afford the stuff then your diet is very limiting. At least that's how I feel anyway.

Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 10:02 pm

Tofu Pup

Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 1:37 pmPosts: 6

Thanks all. I have been eating low/good carb for awhile. Over the past year or so bread products have had very little appeal to me. I think the transition may not be as hard as I thought. I realize wheat is in a lot things so I am keeping my expectations realistic. Time will tell how feasible it will be, but even trying it for awhile might be good. I am not one to buy products out there designed to be a substitute, I prefer to skip it and find alternatives. The cost is prohibitive with a lot of those GF products and I'd hate to get hooked on something only to have it discontinued. Thanks again for your input.

Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:10 pm

Nailed to the V

Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:41 amPosts: 566Location: San Francisco

I've been vegan for 5 years and gluten free for one year. I've found eating gluten free to not be that difficult. I miss good pizza, that's really the only thing I go without. Living in San Francisco helps, I imagine it's very difficult in smaller markets. If I had to go vegan and gluten free at the same time, that might be too tough. But this lifestyle is highly manageable and worthwhile.

Post subject: Re: If you are vegan and gluten free: which came first for y

Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:34 pm

Tofu Pup

Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:02 amPosts: 10

I went vegan and glutenfree pretty much at the same time, within a month, about a year and a half ago, mostly because I couldn't figure out just what my body was reacting badly to, diary or gluten, and I thought I might just become vegan while I am at it. At first I have found the gf part much harder than the vegan part, particularly when I was travelling or eating out, but it's just a matter of being resourceful and getting used to it. I was still eating carbs until a couple of months ago when I started to cut out grains and sugar as well.